Side Job
by hopeless-romanti
Summary: In which Natsume encounters a strange man who decides to stop on his journey to lend a hand against yet another troublesome youkai.
1. Chapter 1

Done for an Ask Natsume blog on Tumblr after drawing a crossover fanart with Natsume dressed as the Medicine Seller from the anime "Mononoke."

Takes place at no real point in the canon storyline, though it's probably somewhere near where the story is at now.

Natsume's Book of Friends and Mononoke aren't mine.

**Side Job**

Part One

Natsume was sprawled across the green grass, lost in the kind of daze that could only be created by staring at clouds drifting across a blue sky. Madara was laid out likewise, but on his back with his paws up in the air. A low purr emitted from the fat cat body, a sign that he was pretty happy since he didn't like being caught purring. Natsume inhaled deeply, taking in the smell of the nature around him. It felt so peaceful to just lie there, without worrying about anything at all. It was the weekend, there wasn't any homework to worry about, and the youkai had been quiet as of late. It was a gorgeous August day, perfect for a stroll in the woods to a secluded meadow.

Footsteps approached from the edge of the woods, and Natsume quickly shot up, heart instantly pounding. A peculiar-looking man stood there, watching him with a keen gaze. He wore traditional but garish clothing, which were blue with large swatches of purple and green colors as well as odd circular designs. His hair was a sandy brown color, much like Natsume's, and was covered by a purple head cloth. On his feet were ashida geta with tall pegs to keep one's feet out of the mud. Dark-colored pants were on top of wrapped legs, and straps across the shoulders held a large box on his back. If not for the outrageous colors, the strange man would've looked like a merchant straight out of a history textbook.

'More importantly, is he human, or a youkai?' Natsume thought, getting to his feet. He kicked Madara, who snorted awake and flailed around, forgetting he had been on his back. 'Sensei didn't seem to sense him…'

The man remained silent.

"Natsume, I don't know what he is," Madara muttered. "He appears human at first, but…"

"Shhh," Natsume hissed. Louder, he asked, "Can I help you…?"

The man didn't say a word.

Natsume felt irritated at having his peaceful afternoon interrupted by this. "Well?"

"Yes," the man finally said, voice deep and slow. "But, for now, no."

"Then…I'll be leaving now," Natsume said, warily dipping into a shallow bow before turning and walking to the edge of the woods opposite of the man. Madara followed, casting a glance every now and then behind them. The odd stranger watched them leave for a while, then disappeared back into the woods himself.

"He's gone, Natsume."

"Who was he?"

"Beats me. He smelled like a whole bunch of things; maybe a merchant, given by the big box on his back," Madara replied.

"Merchant? Who dresses like that these days?" Natsume sighed. "He's probably a youkai, then."

"I'll ask around tonight about any weirdoes wandering these woods," the cat sniffed.

"Tonight? Wait, you're going drinking AGAIN?"

"Its August! A time of warm weather, plentiful harvests, and celebration!"

"I swear, you act more like a drunken old man than a cat sometimes."

"Keh! I'm not a cat OR an old man, so there!"

**End Part One**


	2. Chapter 2

Done for an Ask Natsume blog on Tumblr after drawing a crossover fanart with Natsume dressed as the Medicine Seller from the anime "Mononoke."

Takes place at no real point in the canon storyline, though it's probably somewhere near where the story is at now.

Natsume's Book of Friends and Mononoke aren't mine.

**Side Job**

Part Two

"I'm home!" Natsume walked into the house and slid his shoes off. Madara trotted in after him. "Sensei! Wipe your paws, you're tracking mud!"

"Takashi?"

Touko's voice came from upstairs. Didn't it sound…weak? He went upstairs to her and Shigeru's bedroom, and then knocked softly on the door.

"I'm home," he repeated, and slid the door open. Touko was lying in bed with a cloth over her head.

"Ah, so you are," she chuckled. "I'm just feeling a little unwell, so when Shigeru gets home, can you tell him that we'll just eat tonight's leftovers for dinner? He went to pick up some rice."

"Sure." Natsume frowned; seeing his aunt lying there like that disconcerted him. She noticed.

"Oh, don't worry! It's probably just a fall cold. It was rather chilly yesterday, after all," she said, chiding him.

"If you insist," he said, still worried. But he smiled, and left the room for his own.

"Something smelled off," Madara said, batting at the feather toy.

Natsume picked it up and dangled the feather over Madara's head. "How so?" he asked.

"Dunno."

"You're pretty useless today, aren't you." Natsume pulled the feather just out of reach when Madara leapt for it, earning a scowl from the cat.

"You're pretty cheeky today aren't you? Maybe I should take a bite out of you!"

"Do that, and I won't share my cookies. The kind you drooled over all last night."

"Keh."

There was a knock on the door downstairs. Natsume went downstairs and answered it for Touko.

"Ah! Takashi, give me a hand, would ya?"

It was Mr. Saitou from the bakery, propping up a sheepish-looking Shigeru, who was pale in the face and sweaty.

"I started feeling a little dizzy, so Akira here helped me home," Shigeru said. Natsume, alarmed, quickly helped Shigeru sit down, and helped him take his shoes off. "Put the rice in the cabinet for me, please. Where's Touko?"

"She wasn't feeling well either," Natsume replied, bowing in thanks and farewell to Mr. Saitou, who wished Shigeru well as he left. "She's in the bedroom lying down."

"Really? How strange." He grunted as he stood up, and swayed a little. Natsume rushed to support him before helping him up the stairs. "Maybe it's both something we ate. We did have fish yesterday…"

They made it to the bedroom, and Touko sat up in surprise at the sight of them.

"What happened?" she asked, making room for Shigeru on the futon.

"I felt dizzy while I was walking home. I was by the bakery, and Mr. Saitou helped me home," he answered. Natsume eased him down on the futon. "What was the date on that fish yesterday?"

"It was today's date, but I bought it fresh from the market yesterday morning. I seem to have a fever myself," Touko said, starting to loosen Shigeru's shirt for him. Natsume took it as his cue to leave the room.

"Call me if you two need anything," he said. They chuckled.

"We will," Shigeru said, smiling.

Before he walked away, Natsume could hear Touko saying, "It_'s _rather nice to have him twitting about us for once. He gets sick a lot more often than we do, so usually it's _us_ fawning over _him…"_

"Yes, it is, isn't it?"

When Natsume returned to his room, Madara was giving himself a bath.

"Now what's up?" he asked. "Your face looks like a raisin with all those worry wrinkles."

"Uncle Shigeru just came home on the arm of a neighbor. He was feeling dizzy," Natsume explained, sitting at his desk. "Both him and Aunt Touko…"

"It's probably something they ate," Madara said, with a level gaze.

"Hmmm…" Natsume looked out at the red and gold trees outside the window. 'Is it really? Or is it…No. I can't keep blaming youkai for everything.'

A flash of purple caught his eye, and he nearly tipped his chair over to get to his feet.

"Sensei! It's that man!"

Madara hopped up on the desk and took a look, but the strange man from before was gone.

"Natsume, are you getting sick too?" Madara eyed the boy suspiciously.

Natsume hit him on the head and dashed out of his room, briefly pausing by his foster parents' bedroom to tell them he'd be right back. Outside, he ran to where he thought he saw the man, but no one was there.

'Where did he go?' he thought, looking around.

"I smell him! He went this way!" Madara said, running to the left. Natsume chased after him, and sure enough, there was the odd merchant, looking at a tree thoughtfully.

"Hey! What were you doing outside my house?" Natsume asked, voice more than a little sharp.

The merchant looked at him, said nothing for a moment, and then raised his hands in an "I don't know" pose.

"I am lost," he said, in the same slow manner as before.

Natsume groaned and ground his palm into his forehead. His nerves were going to be shot by the time the day ended.


	3. Chapter 3

Done for an Ask Natsume blog on Tumblr after drawing a crossover fanart with Natsume dressed as the Medicine Seller from the anime "Mononoke."

Takes place at no real point in the canon storyline, though it's probably somewhere near where the story is at now.

Natsume's Book of Friends and Mononoke aren't mine.

**Side Job**

Part Two

The man sat at the table, sipping tea while Natsume rummaged around for the phone book. He peered at the man from the corner of his eye. Was he really human? He had strange red markings on his face, his top lip was painted purple like his fingernails, and now that Natsume looked closer, his ears seemed pointed as well. Madara had whispered to just help the man find his way, and then they could figure him out together. When asked for his name, the odd merchant had simply replied, "I am just the Medicine Seller."

"Excuse me. I'm going to ask my Aunt and Uncle where the phone book is," Natsume said. He gave Madara a look that said, "Keep an eye on him," then went upstairs.

"Aunt Touko?" He rapped on the bedroom door lightly.

There was no answer.

Alarmed, Natsume slowly opened the door, in case the two were sleeping. Both his aunt and uncle were lying in their futon asleep, but their faces were flushed and sweaty, so much so that he could see the beads of moisture glistening from the door.

"Hey! Are you ok?"

He raced to the side of their futon and knelt, touching Shigeru's forehead despite knowing it would be very hot. Their breaths were uneven, and Touko's sounded raspy. Natsume's blood ran cold in panic. He'd seen either of the two sick before, but only with a cold or the flu, and never both at the same time.

'What do I do?' he thought, frantically. Should he call for an ambulance? But what if it was just a bad cold with high fevers? Would they be mad at him if he called for an ambulance when they weren't that sick? But their hands were clammy, and their pulses were very fast…

"A mononoke did this."

Natsume's head whipped around. The Medicine Seller was standing in the doorway with his large box.

"What?"

"A mononoke. An ayakashi. A youkai. Take your pick," the man said slowly, looking at Natsume with that steady gaze. "You are not unfamiliar with them."

"…no. I'm not," Natsume finally said, sighing. "Can you help them? You said you were a medicine seller."

The Medicine Seller bent over Shigeru as his uncle started coughing in his fevered sleep. The man felt Shigeru's forehead, pulse, the back of his neck, and then felt the vibrations on his chest.

"Yes. I can help them. But…"

Natsume waited. He couldn't see the Medicine Seller's face through his hair, but did see the man smirk with his strangely colored lips.

"For a small fee."

"What is it," Natsume groaned. He should've known. It always had to be give and take when it came to youkai!

"Help me find the mononoke that did this. I will exterminate it," replied the Medicine Seller.

"Fine." There was no hesitation. He'd do nearly anything to help his aunt and uncle. 'And if there's a youkai going around making people sick, then it needs to be stopped anyway.'

The Medicine Seller quickly opened his box, dug through it, and took out several pouches. As he started mixing them in a small cup, he told Natsume, "Get two glasses of water, and a lemon if you have any."

Natsume quickly ran downstairs to get the requested items. Madara followed him.

"Do you think we can trust him?" Madara asked.

"I'd be asking you that if my aunt and uncle weren't possibly DYING," Natsume growled at him. There weren't any lemons in the fridge, but there was a little bit of lemon juice left in a bottle, so he grabbed that instead. His heart was still pounding in his chest and he vowed to himself that if the Medicine Seller killed his aunt and uncle, he'd sic Madara on him and let the cat eat him.

End of chapter

Note: Sorry that this is slow in coming; school started for me. Thank you everyone who has reviewed!


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